Bath strip club customer on trial over $7,400 bill he didn't pay

Strippers. Several hundred dollar tips. Repeated 30-minute private sessions in the champagne room. Sometimes with more than one exotic dancer.

It sounds like the life of a rock star. But Northampton County prosecutors say it was how 54-year-old Robert L. Tostevin Jr. spent three days last summer before getting buyer's remorse and refusing to pay the bill.

What did Tostevin get for the $7,400 he allegedly blew through at the former Tattletales North in Bath, then claimed he hadn't authorized on his bank card?

If you believe the four strippers who testified at his theft trial Monday, only a sympathetic ear to listen to his problems.

They said they remained dressed during his "champagne court" sessions, even as the Allentown man agreed to pay fees as high as $640 for a half hour with two women.

"Every dance, we just talked, about everything that was going on with him," said Lori Williams of Brodheadsville in Monroe County, who continues to work at the East Main Street club, now renamed The Fox.

"We were discussing former home life, ex-wife, everything," said Elizabeth Cwynar of Easton, a part-time dancer.

Colonial Regional police say Tostevin, a regular at the club, racked up the hefty bills last year on July 16 to 18. But Tostevin later claimed to his bank that just $100 had been authorized, with the $7,400 of other charges fraudulent.

Detective Michael Munch said Tostevin later acknowledged that he had spent more than he told the bank, and wanted to work out a plan for paying the club some of the money. But after details of his arrest hit the newspapers, Tostevin became upset and vowed he was going to fight the allegations, Munch said.

"He was more offended about the media release than about any amount we discussed," Munch said.

Bank records showed transactions of as high as $1,320 at a time. Defense attorney Edward Andres said his client was overbilled, with staggering tips tacked onto dances he had purchased at far lower rates.

The disputed charges were investigated by Tostevin's bank, First Niagara, which refused to pay them after Tattletales could not produce receipts showing he had signed for them, testified Rachel Palmer, a fraud investigator with the bank.

By failing to show Tostevin had endorsed the charges, Tattletales broke the rules required by MasterCard, Palmer said.

As a result, "he has no liability for these transactions?" Andres asked.

"Not as far as the bank is concerned, no," Palmer said.A jury of 11 men and one woman will decide whether Tostevin is guilty of theft of services. They are expected to begin deliberating the case Tuesday after Assistant District Attorney James Augustine calls the club's manager to the stand, and Andres decides whether Tostevin will testify in his own defense.

Throughout Monday's testimony, Judge Emil Giordano questioned the strippers on whether talking was all Tostevin paid them to do. With the jury outside of the room, Giordano wondered aloud whether Tostevin could be guilty of stealing services, if that was all the service rendered.

"It's gentlemen's club entertainment," Augustine said. "It can be whatever you want it to be, apparently.""None of them testified they have a psychology degree, right?" Giordano asked.